Stephen E. Reynolds

1937 - 2018

Stephen E. Reynolds, beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away in Redding, Calif., on July 30, 2018, from complications of Parkinson's disease. He requested no formal services, but the family will convene later in a private ceremony to scatter his ashes amongst the places he loved.
Stephen was born on Nov. 23, 1937, in Long Beach, Calif., to Wallace Elmo Reynolds and Marjorie Eloise (Robertson) Reynolds. He was their fourth and last child and only son. When he was three, his family returned to New Mexico, where he remained until his move to Alaska. He graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute in 1956, and later attended the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. In 1958, he married Gloria Jernigan and left college, joining the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish as a game warden in 1959. In 1969, he realized his dream to move to Alaska, where he joined the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as an enforcement officer/pilot. He retired from the Department of Public Safety in 1986 after having achieved the rank of Captain. This early retirement allowed him the chance to pursue other interests with his second wife, Judy, whom he had married in 1979. Although he continued to work as a security officer on Alaska's North Slope for several years afterward, his true retirement years began in 1998 and were spent traveling in the fifth wheel, pitching in horseshoe tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, pursuing his passions to write books and create amazingly beautiful pastel portraits, and just generally enjoying every day. He and Judy finally settled, in 2003, on 50 acres in Montague, Calif., a place rich with wildlife, the perfect spot for a retired game warden.
Stephen is survived by his wife, Judy; and his children, Stephen E. Reynolds II, G. Coleman Reynolds, Charles Reynolds, Cynthia McCoy, Karen Reynolds and Susan Buist; 17 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; and his sisters: Gail Reynolds, Nancy Reynolds and Ann Markovich. He will be remembered by those who truly knew him as a strong man with a sensitive nature, passionate about honesty and integrity, kind and fair, and caring. He leaves big shoes to be filled.